UK lawmakers: Rupert Murdoch unfit to lead companyLONDON (AP) — A committee of British lawmakers called Rupert Murdoch unfit to run his global media empire — a finding that reflects just how deeply the phone hacking scandal born of his defunct News of the World has shaken the relationship between the press and politics. The divisive ruling Tuesday against Murdoch, his son James and three of their executives also exposed the waning influence of the media tycoon, and could jeopardize his contro...

Human rights showdown awaits Clinton in BeijingBEIJING (AP) — Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton arrived Wednesday in Beijing, where a tense human rights showdown awaits over the fate of a blind Chinese lawyer said to be under U.S. protection after escaping from house arrest. The issue of Chen Guangcheng’s future threatens to overshadow this year’s round of high-level strategic and economic talks between the world’s two biggest economic powers. Those talks begin Thursday. Publicly, ...

Obama flies to Afghanistan, signs pact with KarzaiKABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — President Barack Obama slipped into Afghanistan Tuesday night on the anniversary of the killing of 9/11 mastermind Osama bin Laden and signed an agreement cementing U.S. commitment to the nation after American combat troops leave. Alongside Afghan President Hamid Karzai, Obama declared, “Together, we’re now committed to replacing war with peace.” The partnership spells out the U.S. relationship with Afghanistan beyond...

Israeli ex-intel chief slams PM’s Iran stanceJERUSALEM (AP) — The former head of Israel’s Shin Bet security agency has accused the country’s political leaders of exaggerating the effectiveness of a possible military attack on Iran, in a striking indication of Israel’s turmoil over how to deal with the Iranian nuclear program. Yuval Diskin said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak — who have been saber-rattling for months — have their judgment clouded by “mess...

Syria derides UN chief as peace plan in crisisBEIRUT (AP) — Syria derided U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon as biased and called his comments “outrageous” Saturday after he blamed the regime for widespread cease-fire violations — the latest sign of trouble for an international peace plan many expect to fail. In new fighting Saturday, activists said regime forces battled army defectors near President Bashar Assad’s summer palace in a coastal village and shelled a Damascus suburb in pursuit of gunmen....

Dutch ban takes aim at foreigners buying potAMSTERDAM (AP) — This country of canals and tulips is also famous for “coffee shops” where joints and cappuccinos share the menu. Now, the Netherlands’ famed tolerance for drugs could be going up in smoke. A judge on Friday upheld a government plan to ban foreign tourists from buying marijuana by introducing a “weed pass” available only to Dutch citizens and permanent residents. The new regulation reins in one of the country’s most cherished s...

Group: Blind Chinese activist under US protectionBEIJING (AP) — A blind legal activist who fled house arrest in his rural China village is under the protection of U.S. officials and high-level talks are taking place between the countries about his fate, an overseas activist group said Saturday. The whereabouts of Chen Guangcheng — amid unconfirmed reports that he sought protection at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing — could be a major political complication for the two countries as Secretary of S...

Egypt presidential race boils down to 3 candidatesCAIRO (AP) — Egypt’s presidential race is boiling down to a contest between Hosni Mubarak’s former foreign minister and two Islamists with strong bases of support after the election commission on Thursday released the final list of 13 candidates. None of the front-runners represents the largely liberal and secular youth who drove the uprising that toppled Mubarak’s autocratic regime 14 months ago, dimming their hopes that the winner will bring...

Pakistan deports bin Laden family to Saudi ArabiaISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistani authorities deported Osama bin Laden’s three widows and his children to Saudi Arabia early Friday, less than a week before the first anniversary of the unilateral American raid that killed the al-Qaida leader in his hideout in a military town. The departure of the family closed another chapter in an affair that cemented Pakistan’s reputation as a hub of Islamist extremism and cast doubt on its trustworthiness as a We...

Syrian regime, rebels trade blame for deadly blastBEIRUT (AP) — U.N. observers on Thursday inspected the site of an explosion that flattened a block of houses in the central Syrian city of Hama and killed at least 16 people, while the government and the opposition traded blame over the cause of the blast. Syrian state-run media said rebel bomb-makers accidentally set off the explosives. Anti-regime activists said intense shelling by government forces caused the extensive damage. It was imposs...

Charles Taylor conviction sends warning to tyrantsLEIDSCHENDAM, Netherlands (AP) — Former Liberian President Charles Taylor became the first head of state since World War II to be convicted by an international war crimes court, a historic verdict that sends a message that tyrants worldwide will be tracked down and brought to justice. The warlord-turned-president was found guilty on Thursday of 11 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity for arming Sierra Leone rebels in exchange for “...

Official: Afghan soldier kills US service memberKABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — An Afghan soldier fatally shot an American service member and a local interpreter in southern Afghanistan, officials said Thursday, the latest in a string of attacks against U.S. and other foreign forces by their Afghan partners. In the east, meanwhile, three U.S. service members were killed in a bomb attack, according to NATO and a U.S. official. The official confirmed the nationalities on condition of anonymity beca...

Pakistan’s top court convicts prime minister of contemptISLAMABAD (AP) — The Supreme Court convicted Pakistan’s prime minister of contempt on Thursday for refusing to reopen an old corruption case against the country’s president, but spared him a prison term in a case that has stoked political tensions in the country. The ruling against Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani appeared to be a compromise, but could still mean problems for him because he has been convicted in a court. That means he could f...

Pope stakes out church’s course entering 8th yearVATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Benedict XVI began his eighth year as pope on Tuesday after spending the waning days of his seventh driving home his view of the Catholic Church, with a divisive crackdown on dissenters and an equally divisive opening to a fringe group of traditionalists. The coming year may see more of the same as the Vatican gears up to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Second Vatican Council, the 1962-65 church meetings that res...

Annan calls Syria situation ‘bleak’UNITED NATIONS (AP) — International envoy Kofi Annan told the U.N. Security Council Tuesday that the situation in Syria is “bleak” and expressed alarm at reports that government troops are still carrying out military operations in towns where U.N. observers are not present. He expressed particular concern at media reports that government troops entered the central city of Hama on Monday after U.N. observers departed, firing automatic weapons a...

Breivik claims ’racist’ plot to cast him as insaneOSLO, Norway (AP) — Anxious to prove he’s not insane, confessed mass killer Anders Behring Breivik told a court Monday that questions about his mental health are part of a racist plot to discredit his extreme anti-Muslim ideology. Breivik, who has admitted to killing 77 people in a bombing and youth camp massacre, said that no one would have asked for a psychiatric examination had he been a “bearded jihadist.” “But because I am a militant nati...

Cabbie unlikely celebrity in Colombia sex scandalARTAGENA, Colombia (AP) — The Secret Service sex scandal has spawned X-rated jokes, inspired a spicy song set to a local Caribbean beat, and made an unlikely celebrity of a 42-year-old taxi driver who lives with his mother and now seems to be in hiding. With no other decent leads locally, scoop-hungry journalists fought all week for the favor of Jose Pena, the president of the Hotel Caribe taxi stand who happened to drive home the prostitute w...

Shortages could slow down US auto productionDETROIT (AP) — The U.S. auto industry, already stretching to meet rising demand for cars and trucks, is facing shortages of parts and materials that could limit the number of new vehicles in showrooms later this year and crimp a historic turnaround. The most immediate problem — a shortage of a crucial plastic resin, caused by an explosion March 31 at a plant in Germany — could surface in a few weeks. And later this year or beyond, automakers c...

Fake Bieber accused of abusing NJ girl onlineTORONTO (AP) — A Canadian man accused of posing as teen idol Justin Bieber and coaxing a young girl to perform sex acts online may have victims in up to five countries, authorities in Canada and the U.S. said Wednesday. Lee Moir, 34, is already facing a slew of child pornography charges in connection with his alleged interactions with a 12-year-old girl from New Jersey, but officials in that state suspect his activities had a much wider scope....

US, NATO ready plan to hand off Afghanistan combatBRUSSELS (AP) — Several NATO allies promised Wednesday to underwrite Afghanistan’s armed forces after foreign troops depart, as the United States and other nations plan to pull away from the front lines in Afghanistan next year. U.S. officials were at pains to show that the pressure to close down an unpopular war will not leave Afghanistan’s fragile government and unsteady military in the lurch. “There is no change whatsoever in the timeline,”...